The Heart of the Matter
And the Pharisees and the scribes asked [Jesus], “Why do your disciples not live
according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with their hands defiled?”
And [Jesus] said to [the Pharisees and scribes who were conspiring to destroy him
with their hardness of heart] (Mark 3:5-6)… “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites,
as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.’” [Isaiah. 29:13] … And again Jesus called the people to him, and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him.’” (Mark 7:6-8, 14-15; RSV. Emphasis added)
Let us pray:
O God, we’re scrubbing our hands like crazy, and we still can’t get all the dirt off! And look, look at this mess … we’ve scrubbed so hard our hands are starting to bleed! … What a hopeless effort … And where is all this blood coming from? … Yes, we must admit, if we look deep- down and are honest with ourselves and you: we need some open heart surgery. No, not just a by-pass. We’ve tried that one and found ourselves to all be dishonest like the scribes and Pharisees, and even the disciples, like Judas. And no, not just an angioplasty. We’ve tried that one too, and found the balloons of even our best, puffed-up efforts to quickly go flat. And no, it’s not just a matter of exercise and diet. Been there, done that too – the cholesterol of sin is just too thick for any earthly medicine – whether it’s eating more Cheerios or even popping a Crestor tab each day.
And so it is, O God … and so it is … that we come to you again this day with our old hardened hearts, in prayer and thanksgiving at your communion table, leaning into your promise of an ever present love of enfolding forgiveness and hope – signed and sealed by Christ’s cross. Yes, in the spirit of your Psalmist: ‘Create in us a clean heart, O God and renew in us a right spirit’ (Psalm 51:10) – making us to be your cardiac kids … whose hearts beat for the sake of your kingdom come, in the needs of our neighbor, and throughout your creation.” AMEN
May God bless your labor and your Sabbath rest, this Labor Day Weekend.
I’ll see you at the table.
John Christopherson
Senior Pastor
“Standing Fast in an Age of Present Darkness”
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand fast against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
With this strong exhortation, St. Paul concludes his letter to the Christian congregations in Ephesus, from his prison cell in Rome (ca. 62 A.D.). It also serves to conclude our summer preaching series on this sublime text. So … how does this particular part of St. Paul’s letter (Ephesians 6:10-20), still speak to our hearts and minds today?
For sure, it’s a difficult word. At one level there’s the temptation of simply interpreting it in some militaristic way. The Crusades for example, or sending gunboats to China. … At another level, there’s the temptation of shrugging-it-off as just some mythical, old-fashioned way for interpreting why there’s so much evil and chronic tragedy in human history. “The devil?!” you say. “You mean, Ol’ Scratch?!” … And as well, there’s always the at-bottom-level temptation of interpreting such an exhortation as something “I have to do, all by myself” – taking on the “slings and arrows” of our wild and wooly world as some solitary figure.
So, did you note the use of the word “temptation” in all three levels of these possible levels of interpretation? I think this is the entrée or entry point into what St. Paul is speaking to us, in all the physical and spiritual battles that we experience, each day of our lives. As one of my favorite Christian authors puts it, in his own wily and winsome way: “To take the Devil [and all of his temptations] seriously, is to take seriously the fact that the total evil in the world is greater than the sum of all its parts. Likewise the total evil in yourself. The murdering terrorist who says, ‘I couldn’t help it’ isn’t necessarily kidding.” (Frederick Buechner; Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, p.19) This weekend we’ll look at the rap sheet of the Original Terrorist and our own … together.
John R. Christopherson
Senior Pastor
P.S.
As a homework assignment, I would also strongly encourage you to read St. Paul’s entire letter of Ephesians: from Chapter 1 through Chapter 3. Reading the entire context always gives the particular text a fuller sense of understanding and meaning.
Cover Image Credit: Quote Addicts